Another take on Mintoffian economics
Saturday, September 22, 2012
EDITORIAL – THE TIMES
When Labour MEP Edward Scicluna recently wrote in glowing terms in The Times about the way Dom Mintoff handled the island’s economy, he must have expected a strong reaction from quarters that had been strongly against Mintoff’s policies.
As expected, one of the first to come out against Prof. Scicluna’s eulogy was Finance Minister Tonio Fenech. But his rebuttal was somewhat weak, which is why perhaps the Prime Minister felt the need to step in and remind one and all of what Mr Mintoff’s economics really meant.
Unfortunately, however, Lawrence Gonzi was also somewhat skeletal in his criticism, preferring to stick to the worn-out gripe that, in the time of Mintoff’s administration, people had to go to Sicily to buy chocolate and toothpaste.
However true this may have been, the unavailability of these and other products was the least of the problems the country had to go through at the time. What is most ironic, though, is that when, just before Mintoff’s death, Nationalists were being strongly criticised by Labour for bringing up past misdeeds, rather than coming out with new ideas for the country to move ahead, Labour itself has now done the job for them by indulging in a past in a way that made it sound rosy.
Of course, not all that Mintoff has done is wrong; indeed, his work to expand the welfare state, both in the time he worked under his predecessor Paul Boffa and later, when he headed the re-founded Malta Labour Party, can hardly be ignored. That is part of contemporary history.
But to go on from there to extol his economic policies is a different matter. The country may have had a budget surplus and the national debt may have been kept at 10 per cent at the time, but there is another indicator that Prof. Scicluna hardly touched upon: unemployment.
In just five years, it shot up from 4,000 to a staggering 10,000. Import substitution did not work miracles, certainly not in stemming unemployment. It did untold harm to the psyche of the people in general and, worse, to business enterprise.
Mr Mintoff created a command economy and the failure of his policies is perhaps best measured in the sharp rise in unemployment, which is why his administration had to resort to the setting up of military labour corps.
The situation had become so tense at the time and so hostile to private enterprise that the business and industrial constituted bodies had to join forces in an organisation (Confederation of Private Enterprise) to see how it could help take the island back to economic sanity.
In one document it had produced at the time, entitled ‘The way to economic recovery’, it said that, although statistics published by the government registered a national unemployment rate of about eight per cent, a study published by the private sector institutions estimated that the number of job-seekers was between 17,000 and 22,000. The unemployment rate was estimated at between 14 per cent and 17 per cent.
The socialist government’s policies had multiplied, not eased, the impact of the recession felt at the time. It is foolish to write off all that Mr Mintoff has done, but it is incorrect to give the impression that the Mintoff years were the best of times. They were not. Far from it.
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Amazing, isn’t it, that he managed to fail so spectacularly despite having stolen and nationalised two banks, an airline, and the Malta-based assets of the world’s largest life insurance companies?
To say nothing of all the requisitioned villas, palazzos, rural and urban properties for which the Government has yet to pay compensation, even to this day.
How much easier it must be to balance a budget when all you have to do is sell off someone else’s house or field to a third party.
That was Mintoffian economics. On this solid foundation of robbery was the Republic built.
Here’s what I don’t get…. why oh why does it take The Times to bring up the true effect of the Mintoff economic strategy.
Do the PM and the Minister of Finance really think that the lack of chocolate and toothpaste was the main gripe of sensible Maltese during those years? And if yes, what does it say about their mindset?
Chris, you have to factor in the circumstances and place where Dr. Gonzi was speaking. It wasn’t the time and place to go into detail and discuss technicalities.
So true. Very pathetic indeed. What about the lack of investment in infrastructure eg roads, telephone communication, generation of energy (remember the regular Saturday blackouts).
What about the environment?
And the import licences plus the constant allegations of bribes that killed private enterprise.
The loads of unemployed persons. Besides, females were scorned if they sought employment as it was held that for very female out working a male must have been deprived of a job.
These were some of the principal curses of he Mintoff regime. And what I can’t stand is someone like Prof (sic) Scicluna who professes himself to be an expert on the economy to stoop so low in his efforts to ingratiate himself with voters as a potential candidate to come out with such bullshit as Mintoffianomics or whatever term he coined.
Shame. Shame on him and shame to his profession No real professional worth his salt would prostitute himself as Prof Scicluna did.
Have you studied “Prof” Scicluna’s publications? I have.
He belongs to the 1970s school of thought which urged devaluation at all costs.
And that’s exactly what he did throughout the 1980s when he rose to fame and fortune, through the 90s, which meant that he was against EU membership because devaluation would have had to be decided by the ECB, and into the new millennium, where he bemoans our Eurozone membership and yearns for the good old days of the Lira Maltija.
The man is a bloody fraud. and it’s high time our goddamn academic community or spineless jellyfish put him in his place.
But I’m not holding out much hope.
As Hitler says in this brilliant spoof, il-Maltin m’ghandhomx bzonn minn jabbuzahom, kapaci jinhxew f’sormhom wahedhom.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcyt0g_il-waqgya-hitler-jipprepara-gyay-yj_fun
Baxxter, Hitler’s monument represents the Maltese people to a T. Bla bajd.
U skuzi, dan zamm il-cathedra? Din ohra ta’ Juanito Camilleri?
Another ‘professional’ reputation in self-imposed tatters, sad. He’s made his red bed, let him now ‘lie’ in it.
Prof. Scicluna illustrated his article in ‘L-Orizzont’ with a picture of Deserta chocolates.
He was right. Labour’s economic policy has always been like a bar of Deserta chocolate.
It comes in a nice and inviting colourful wrapper, but inside, it’s infested with worms, tastes bad, is harmful when consumed and leaves long term negative consequences on those who experience it.
‘….It did untold harm to the psyche of the people in general and, worse, to business enterprise…’
It basically dictated that whatever existed before he came along, has no place in collective memory. Does anyone really think this place was as miserable as they would have us think?
I cannot understand these mistakes by Prof Scicluna. These are serious mistakes for an economist.